Image editing method, image editing apparatus, program for implementing image editing method, and recording medium recording program

ABSTRACT

To provide an image editing technique that enables a user to perform movement and magnification of an image with a single operation, and to perform trimming while grasping image composition in printing, the image editing method includes a step of instructing to move an arbitrary point of an image displayed in an image display area among image data; a step of calculating an image movement amount and a magnification ratio in response to the instruction to move the arbitrary point; and a step displaying a predetermined area of the image data in the image display area on the basis of the image movement amount and the magnification ratio, which are calculated in the calculating step.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an image editing technique, and inparticular to a technique with which when a still image or a movingimage photographed with a digital still camera, a digital video camera,or the like is to be displayed and/or printed, composition of the imagemay be adjusted while displaying the image.

2. Related Background Art

Commonly used is a function with which image data photographed with adigital camera is fetched and is displayed on a display device, anarbitrary area of the image is designated as a trimming area using apointing device such as a mouse or a remote controller, and thedesignated trimming area is printed. FIG. 6 shows an example of a verycommonly performed trimming process. In this drawing, a trimming frame602 is displayed so that it is superimposed on a pre-trimming image 601,and a user designates his/her desired part of the image 601 byreducing/magnifying, rotating, and moving the trimming frame 602. Inthis manner, a post-trimming image 603 having composition desired by theuser is finally obtained.

As another conventional technique of obtaining such a post-trimmingimage in a different manner, for instance, a technique disclosed inJapanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-83222 is known in which atelevision set is connected to a digital image editing apparatus whichstores certain image editing software, and image data is displayed so asto be fitted in the display area of a screen of the television set.Then, the image data is magnified to a size exceeding the display areaof the television set and the magnified image data is moved in adirection corresponding to an instruction from the outside and ischanged so as to be displayed in the display area. Japanese PatentApplication Laid-Open No. 2000-217024 discloses a technique in which thesame method is applied to a digital camera and which is characterized inthat the digital camera is equipped with a cross key for performing amagnification operation and a cross key for designating a position.

As still another conventional technique, a technique disclosed inJapanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-341272 is known with whichimage data obtained by photographing a face of a person is displayed,predetermined two points of the image data are designated with adesignation means, an image magnification/reduction ratio giving a facesize and position best-suited to the size of output paper is obtainedbased on the designated two points, and a resultant image is printed ata given position.

When a trimming operation is performed in the manner shown in FIG. 6,the user reduces and moves the trimming frame while viewing the wholeimage, so that it is easy for the user to understand which part of theoriginal image is intended to be clipped. However, there is ashortcoming that it is difficult for the user to grasp an impressionthat would be given by post-trimming image composition when the image isactually printed in a print area.

In contrast to this, with the techniques disclosed in Japanese PatentApplication Laid-Open No. 2000-83222 and Japanese Patent ApplicationLaid-Open No. 2000-217024, it is easy to grasp composition of an imageto be actually printed. However, trimming is performed by firstmagnifying an image and then moving the magnified image to change theposition thereof, so that it is required to perform two steps, i.e., amagnification operation and a moving operation.

Also, the technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-OpenNo. 11-341272 relates to creation of a certificate photograph and isaimed at obtaining the size and position of a face best-suited to thesize of paper on which the face is to be printed. Therefore, the pointsto be designated by the user are preset at the top of a head and the tipof a jaw, for instance, and therefore the application purpose of thistechnique differs from general view angle correction of snapshots.

Further, with each of the conventional techniques described above, auser determines a trimming position and size while viewing the overallcomposition, so that the appearance of a post-trimming image compositiongreatly depends on the experience and ability of the user. Also, suchthe determination of composition itself is burdensome for some users, sothat even if it is possible to obtain photographs beyond recognitionthrough trimming of images, they often print the images without usingthe trimming function.

When a main object (a person, in many cases) exists in the center areaof an image like in the example shown in FIG. 6, for instance, it ispossible to obtain composition with a sense of spreading by increasing afront space in a sight direction of the person. On the other hand, inthe case of an example shown in FIG. 13 in which a trimming frame 1802is set on a pre-trimming image 1801 and a post-trimming image 1803 isgenerated, a front space in a sight direction of the person is narrowedand this results in composition giving a restless feeling.

In a like manner, when a moving subject is photographed like in anexample shown in FIG. 15A, it is difficult to take a photograph havingdesired composition. In the illustrated example, a go-cart isphotographed in the center area of the photograph. However, byincreasing a front space in a traveling direction, it is possible toobtain composition with a sense of motion. Such an image is a goodexample of an image with which it is possible to obtain a photographbeyond recognition through trimming. Even in this case, however, it isdifficult for a user, in particular for a beginner, to determine aposition where the go-cart (main object in this case) should bepositioned through trimming in order to obtain a generally favorablecomposition.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention has been made in order to solve all or at leastone of the aforementioned problems of the conventional techniques.

An object of the present invention is to provide an image editingtechnique that enables a user to perform movement and magnification ofan image with ease by the less number of operations performed by theuser.

Further, another object of the present invention is to provide an imageediting technique with which at the time of trimming an imagephotographed with a digital camera or the like, it is possible todetermine composition of the image with ease.

In order to realize the above-mentioned objects an image editing methodaccording to the present invention, comprising the steps of:

instructing to move an arbitrary point of an image displayed in an imagedisplay area among image data;

calculating an image movement amount and a magnification ratio inresponse to an instruction to move the arbitrary point; and

displaying a predetermined area of the image data in the image displayarea on the basis of the image movement amount and the magnificationratio, which are calculated in the calculating step.

Other objects and features of the present invention will become apparentfrom the following description of preferred embodiments to be made withreference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows an example of the hardware construction of an image editingapparatus according to first to third embodiments of the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a process performed with an image editingmethod according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a process performed with an image editingmethod according to the third embodiment;

FIG. 4 shows an image coordinate system and a display memory coordinatesystem;

FIG. 5 shows the image coordinate system and the display memorycoordinate system;

FIG. 6 shows an example of a trimming process performed with aconventional technique;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a process performed with an image editingmethod according to the second embodiment;

FIG. 8 shows an image coordinate system and a display memory coordinatesystem;

FIG. 9 shows an image coordinate system and a display memory coordinatesystem according to the second embodiment;

FIG. 10 is a flowchart of a process performed with an image editingmethod according to a fifth embodiment;

FIGS. 11A, 11B, and 11C illustrate a grid based on a golden section;

FIG. 12 shows a grid displayed according to the fifth embodiment;

FIG. 13 shows an example of a trimming process;

FIG. 14 is a flowchart of a process performed in a fourth embodiment todisplay a grid;

FIGS. 15A and 15B show an example of a trimming process according to thefourth embodiment;

FIGS. 16A, 16B, and 16C each show an example of a grid displayedaccording to the fourth embodiment in order to indicate the suitedposition of a main object;

FIGS. 17A and 17B each show an example in which trimming is performedusing the grid according to the fourth embodiment;

FIG. 18 is a flowchart of a grid display process according to a sixthembodiment; and

FIGS. 19A, 19B, 19C, and 19D each show an example of a grid displayedaccording to the sixth embodiment.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be describedwith reference to the accompanying drawings.

First Embodiment

FIG. 1 shows an example of a hardware construction of an image editingapparatus according to first to sixth embodiments of the presentinvention. In this drawing, reference numeral 101 denotes a CPU (centralprocessing unit) that executes computer software programs; numeral 102,a ROM (read-only memory) in which programs are stored; numeral 103, aRAM (random-access memory) that is used at the time of execution of theprograms; numeral 104, a hard disk drive (HDD) in which the programs arestored; numeral 105, a storage device that stores programs and data on amedium such as a flexible disk or an MO (magneto-optical disk); numeral106, a display device for displaying execution results and executionstates of the programs; numeral 107, a memory card interface into whicha memory card is inserted and which writes and reads data into and fromthe inserted memory card; numeral 108, a mouse and a keyboard; numeral109, a printer; and numeral 110, a bus.

In this embodiment, two coordinate systems that are a display memorycoordinate system for displaying an image on the display 106 and animage coordinate system for expressing a position on image data are usedto determine an area to be clipped from the image data after movement ofthe mouse 108 and a magnification ratio at the time of writing fordisplaying on the display 106. Thereafter, writing into a display memoryarea is performed according to the determined clipping area andmagnification ratio.

Description of Display Memory Coordinate System

The display memory coordinate system is shown in FIG. 5 (see referencenumeral 503). In this drawing, a point of x=y=0 is set as an origin, anx-axis extends in the rightward direction on a paper plane of thisdrawing, and a y-axis extends in the downward direction thereon. Animage is written into a display area having a width “cWidth” and aheight “cHeight”, with the origin (0, 0) being set as an upper left-handpoint of the image. Also, designation of a coordinate on this displaymemory coordinate system is performed with the mouse. When an arbitrarypoint of the displayed image is dragged with the mouse, a coordinatedesignated with the mouse is changed from a pre-movement point (x0, y0)to a post-movement point (x1, y1) (see reference numeral 510). Thismouse dragging is an operation in which the mouse is moved while keepingthe left button of the mouse pressed down. Here, the left button ispressed down at the pre-movement point (x0, y0) and is released at thepost-movement point (x1, y1).

Description of Image Coordinate System

The image coordinate system that is another coordinate system used inthis embodiment is also shown in FIG. 5 (see reference numerals 501 and502). Reference numeral 501 denotes a state in which movement throughthe mouse dragging is not yet performed, while reference numeral 502denotes a post-movement state. In FIG. 5, reference numeral 504 denotesan outer edge of an image; numerals 505 and 507, each a trimming frameshowing a trimming area; and numerals 506 and 508, each a coordinatedesignated with the mouse. The image coordinate system is normalized sothat the length of the image outer edge 504 on the x-axis becomes one.The mouse coordinate 506 on the image coordinate system corresponds tothe pre-movement point (x0, y0) on the display coordinate system, whilethe post-movement mouse coordinate 508 corresponds to the post-movementpoint (x1, y1) on the display coordinate system. Also, even after anarbitrary point of the image is designated on the display and is graspedand moved (dragged), the point designated with the mouse on the imagecoordinate system is not changed and therefore the pre-movement point506 and the post-movement point 508 are the same on the image coordinatesystem. Also, no difference occurs in the image outer edge 504 betweenbefore and after the movement and only the trimming frame is movedleftward from the pre-movement trimming frame 505 to the post-movementtrimming frame 507.

A user is capable of performing trimming to obtain an appropriatecomposition by, for instance, changing the position of a main objectdisplayed on the display. The user first moves a mouse pointer onto thepoint (x0, y0) on the display coordinate system, at which the mainobject is positioned, and then drags the main object from the point (x0,y0) to the point (x1, y1) on the display coordinate system. In thismanner, the user moves the main object from the center to the right-handside. When the mouse pointer is moved through a dragging operation, themain object is moved so as to follow the mouse pointer. As a result, themouse positions 506 and 508 on the image coordinate system before andafter the movement both indicate the same position of the main object.The rightward movement of the main object from (x0, y0) to (x1, y1) onthe display coordinate system is instructed, so that the trimming frameis moved leftward from the pre-movement position 505 to thepost-movement position 507 without causing any difference between thepoints 506 and 508 of the main object on the image coordinate system.The magnification ratio is determined so that the trimming frames 505and 507 become appropriate to the size of the display area of thedisplay. The trimming frames 505 and 507 have the same size and imagesbefore and after the movement have the same magnification ratio. Also,displaying on the display is performed so that the upper left-handcoordinates of the trimming frames 505 and 507 coincide with the point(0, 0) on the display coordinate system.

Next, description will be made of a display coordinate system 403, animage coordinate system 401 before dragging movement and an imagecoordinate system 402 after the dragging movement shown in FIG. 4. Onthe image coordinate system 501 before the movement in FIG. 5, thetrimming frame 505 exists inside the image outer edge 504. On the imagecoordinate system 401 before the movement in FIG. 4, however, a left endof a trimming frame 405 contacts a left end of an image outer edge 404.

FIG. 4 shows a case where a dragging operation with the mouse isperformed so that movement from (x0, y0) to (x1, y1) is performed on thedisplay coordinate system as in FIG. 5. If it is intended to move thepre-movement trimming frame 405 leftward as in FIG. 5, this results in asituation where the trimming frame 405 extends out from the image outeredge 404 and an area having no image data enters into the trimming frame405. In view of this problem, as shown in FIG. 4, the size of apost-movement trimming frame 407 is reduced from that of thepre-movement trimming frame 405 so that a left end of the trimming frame407 coincides with the left end of the image outer edge 404. Mousepositions 406 and 408 before and after the movement indicate the samemain object. The image inside the trimming frames 405 and 407 ismagnified to the size of the display. Consequently, the magnificationratio of a displayed image in the post-movement trimming frame 407becomes larger than that of a displayed image in the pre-movementtrimming frame 405. That is, through this trimming operation, the mainobject on the display is moved rightward and is magnified. As a result,it becomes possible to perform a moving process and a magnificationprocess through a single dragging operation.

As described above, when dragging is performed and it is instructed tomove the trimming frame 405 so that an end of the image outer edge 404in a direction opposite to a moving direction is exceeded, the image ismagnified based on an exceeding amount to display the magnified image.Also, regardless of the magnification ratio, displaying is performed sothat the image at the pre-movement point designated by dragging is movedto the post-movement point. In more detail, an image movement amount andmagnification ratio are calculated so that the image at the designatedpre-movement point is moved to the post-movement point withoutgenerating any margin in the trimming frame. Then, the image isdisplayed based on the calculated image movement amount andmagnification ratio.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a process performed with an image editingmethod according to the first embodiment of the present invention.Hereinafter, the first embodiment of the present invention will bedescribed by following this flowchart. When a dragging operation withthe mouse is performed, the following process is started.

In step S201, the position (Ix, Iy), width Iw, and height Ih of theclipping frame (trimming frame) on the image coordinate system at thatpoint in time are obtained. That is, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, theposition of an upper left-hand point of the image outer edge 404/504 isset as (0, 0). Then, the position of an upper left-hand point of theclipping frame 405/505 on the image coordinate system is substitutedinto (Ix, Iy) and the width and height of the clipping frame 405/505thereon are substituted into (Iw, Ih).

In step S202, the coordinate of the pre-movement position of the mouseon the display memory coordinate system is fetched and is substitutedinto (x0, y0).

In step S203, a waiting operation is performed for a given length oftime preset in order to capture movement of the mouse.

In step S204, the coordinate of the post-movement position of the mouseon the display memory coordinate system is fetched and is substitutedinto (x1, y1).

In step S205, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the position (x′, y′), widthw′, and height h′ of the new clipping frame 407/507 are operated and amagnification ratio is also operated. A method of calculating x′, y′,w′, and h′ will be described later.

In step S206, an image in the new clipping frame 407/507 designated byx′, y′, w′, and h′ obtained in step S205 is read out and is written ontothe display memory coordinate system at the obtained magnificationratio. As a result, an image is displayed on the display.

In step S207, it is judged whether the mouse dragging is completed. Ifthe mouse dragging is completed, the process is ended; if not, theprocess returns to step S201 and the same operations are repeated. Whenthe process is ended, a post-trimming image is printed or saved. Theclipping frame is an image print area showing an image area to beprinted. When the user instructs to print the image displayed in theclipping frame, the image inside the clipping frame is printed.

By performing the image editing process described above, a main objectis moved and/or magnified so as to follow the mouse pointer and issuccessively displayed during a dragging operation. As a result, itbecomes possible to perform trimming while grasping composition at thetime of printing.

Next, a method used in step S205 to calculate the position (x′, y′),width w′, and height h′ of the new clipping frame will be described.Note that for ease of explanation, in the following description, a casewhere the mouse is horizontally moved from the left to the right, thatis, moved in the forward direction of the x-axis will be described.However, even if the mouse is moved in a reverse direction, atop-to-bottom direction, or an inclined direction, the calculation ispossible with the same method.

The method of obtaining the position, width, and height of the newclipping frame will be considered based on two cases of an initialstate, one of which is a case of x=0 where the clipping frame 405contacts the image outer edge 404 as indicated by 401 in FIG. 4 and theother of which is a case of x≠0 where the clipping frame 505 does notcontact the image outer edge 504 as indicated by 501 in FIG. 5.

In the case of x=0 shown in FIG. 4, the position, width, and height ofthe new clipping frame are operated from the following equations.x′=0 (because the clipping frame contacts the left-end side of theimage)  (1)w′=w×x0/x1  (2)h′=h×w′/w  (3)y′=y+h×y0/cHeight−h′×y1/cHeight  (4)

On the other hand, in the case of x≠0 shown in FIG. 5, the position,width, and height of the new clipping frame are operated from thefollowing equations.w′=w  (5)x′=x−(x1−x0)×w/cWidth  (6)y′=yh′=h

As described above, when it is instructed to move an arbitrary point ofan image displayed in the image display area among image data, an imagemovement amount and magnification ratio are calculated in response tothe moving instruction. Then, a predetermined area of the image data isdisplayed in the image display area based on the calculated imagemovement amount and magnification ratio.

According to this embodiment, when an arbitrary part of an image isdesignated with a mouse, a pen, or the like and is grasped and draggedwhile displaying only a print area in a trimming frame, the image ismoved to a preferred position and is also magnified as necessary. Forinstance, when a human object is photographed in the center area of animage and it is intended to bring the human object near to a right-handend through trimming, it has conventionally been required to firstmagnify the image and then move the magnified image. According to thisembodiment, however, merely by dragging a part of the human object to aposition at which it is desired to be arranged, the human object ismoved and is also magnified as necessary. As a result, it becomespossible to obtain an image having preferable composition through asingle operation.

Second Embodiment

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a process performed with an image editingmethod according to a second embodiment of the present invention.Hereinafter, the second embodiment of the present invention will bedescribed by following this flowchart. When a dragging operation withthe mouse is performed, the following process is started.

In step S701, the position (Ix, Iy), width Iw, and height Ih of theclipping frame (trimming frame) on the image coordinate system at thatpoint in time are obtained. In the same manner as in the firstembodiment, the position of the upper left-hand point of the clippingframe on the image coordinate system is substituted into (Ix, Iy) andthe width and height of the clipping frame thereon are substituted into(Iw, Ih).

In step S702, the coordinate of the pre-movement position of the mouseon the display memory coordinate system is fetched and is substitutedinto (x0, y0).

In step S703, a waiting operation is performed for a given length oftime preset in order to capture movement of the mouse.

In step S704, the coordinate of the post-movement position of the mouseon the display memory coordinate system is fetched and is substitutedinto (x1, y1).

In step S705, the position (x′, y′), width w′, and height h′ of the newclipping frame are operated and a magnification ratio is also operated.A method of calculating x′, y′, w′, and h′ is basically the same as thatof the first embodiment. Detailed description thereof will be madelater.

In step S706, an image in the new clipping frame designated by x′, y′,w′, and h′ obtained in step S705 is read out and is written onto thedisplay memory coordinate system at the obtained magnification ratio. Asa result, an image is displayed on the display.

In step S707, it is judged whether or not the mouse dragging iscompleted. If the mouse dragging is completed, the process is ended; ifnot, the process returns to step S703. The step, to which the processreturns, is a clear difference from the first embodiment. In the firstembodiment, the process returns to the first step S201.

In step S705 of the second embodiment (see FIG. 7), a new clipping frameis always calculated using the initial clipping frame information “Ix,Iy, Iw, and Ih” and mouse position (x0, y0) obtained in steps S701 andS702 when the moving instruction was started. In contrast, in step S205of the first embodiment (see FIG. 2), a new clipping frame is calculatedusing the latest clipping frame information “Ix, Iy, Iw, and Ih” andmouse position (x0, y0) obtained in steps S201 and S202 during thedragging (movement instruction).

As shown in FIG. 4, the first embodiment and the second embodiment arethe same in that when dragging from the display coordinate (x0, y0) to(x1, y1) is performed, the clipping frame 405 is changed into theclipping frame 407. However, when a dragging operation is performedafterward in order to return to the display coordinate (x0, y0) from(x1, y1), the second embodiment differs from the first embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 9, in the first embodiment, when dragging from thedisplay coordinate (x1, y1) to (x0, y0) is performed (see referencenumeral 910), a trimming frame 905 is changed into a trimming frame 907.That is, only the leftward movement of the dragged main object isperformed without changing the magnification ratio (image size).

In contrast, in the second embodiment, the trimming frame 407 shown inFIG. 4 returns to the original trimming frame 405. That is, if draggingis performed on the display coordinate system from (x0, y0) to (x1, y1)and then from (x1, y1) to (x0, y0), the trimming frame changes from thetrimming frame 405 to the trimming frame 407 and then from the trimmingframe 407 to the trimming frame 405. That is, reversibility is attainedin the second embodiment, while such reversibility does not exist in thefirst embodiment.

According to the second embodiment described above, when an arbitrarypart of an image is designated with a mouse, a pen, or the like and isgrasped and dragged while displaying only a print area in a trimmingframe, the image is moved to a preferred position and is also magnifiedas necessary. In addition, when the moving direction of the mouse isreversed during a series of dragging operations, the image is reducedwhile regarding a state at the start of the dragging as a limit. As aresult, when the image becomes too large because the mouse is moved morethan necessary, it is possible to move the mouse in a reserve directionto thereby return the magnified image to its original image size.

Third Embodiment

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a process performed with an image editingmethod according to a third embodiment of the present invention.Hereinafter, the third embodiment of the present invention will bedescribed by following this flowchart. When a dragging operation withthe mouse is performed, the following process is started.

In step S301, the position, width, and height of the clipping frame(trimming frame) on the image coordinate system under an initial stateare obtained. The position of the upper left-hand point of the clippingframe on the image coordinate system is set as (Isx, Isy) and the widthand height of the clipping frame thereon are set as (Isw, Ish).

In step S302, the coordinate (sx0, sy0) of the pre-movement position ofthe mouse on the display memory coordinate system is fetched.

In step S303, the position, width, and height of the clipping frame onthe image coordinate system at that point in time are obtained. That is,the position of the upper left-hand point of the clipping frame on theimage coordinate system is substituted into (Ix, Iy) and the width andheight of the clipping frame thereon are substituted into (Iw, Ih).

In step S304, the coordinate of the pre-movement position of the mouseon the display memory coordinate system is fetched and is substitutedinto (x0, y0).

In step S305, a waiting operation is performed for a predeterminedlength of time preset in order to grasp movement of the mouse.

In step S306, the coordinate of the pre-movement position of the mouseon the display memory coordinate system is fetched and is substitutedinto (x1, y1).

In step S307, the position (x′, y′), width w′, and height h′ of the newclipping frame are operated. A method of calculating x′, y′, w′, and h′will be described later. However, the magnification ratio is notcalculated.

In step S308, an image in the new clipping frame designated by x′, y′,w′, and h′ obtained in step S307 is read out and written onto thedisplay memory coordinate system. A difference from the first embodimentis that the image is displayed on the display without being magnified atthis point in time. This displaying will be described later withreference to FIG. 8.

In step S309, it is judged whether or not the mouse dragging iscompleted. If the mouse dragging is completed, the process proceeds tostep S310; if not, the process returns to step S303.

In step S310, the position (x′, y′), width w′, and height h′ of the newclipping frame are operated and a magnification ratio is also operated.A method used to calculate x′, y′, w′, and h′ is the same as that usedin the first and second embodiments. At this time, the clipping areainformation (Isx, Isy, Isw, Ish) and the mouse position information(sx0, sy0) obtained under an initial state in step S301 and S302 areused as an original clipping area.

In step S311, an image in the new clipping frame designated by x′, y′,w′, and h′ obtained in step S310 is read out and is written onto thedisplay memory coordinate system at the obtained magnification ratio.This display method is the same as that shown in FIGS. 4 and 5.

FIG. 8 shows a display method used in step S308 described above. A casewhere a user moves a mouse pointer from a display coordinate (x0, y0) to(x1, y1) while performing dragging on a display coordinate system 803will be described. At this time, the user performs a dragging operationby keeping the left button of the mouse pressed down. A pre-movementimage coordinate system 801 shows a trimming frame 805 and a mouseposition 806 obtained in steps S303 and S304. A post-movement imagecoordinate system 802 indicates a trimming frame 807 and a mouseposition 808 obtained in steps S306 and S307. That is, in step S308 inwhich the dragging operation is not yet completed, only image movementis performed based on the mouse movement and magnification (reduction)is not performed. The post-movement trimming frame 807 extends out froman image outer edge 804 and contains an area having no image data. Thisarea without any image data is displayed on the display as white data,for instance. Then, after the dragging operation is completed, theprocess proceeds to step S311 in which the image is moved and magnifiedin accordance with the dragging as in-the first and second embodiments.

Next, a method used in step S307 to calculate the post-movement imagecoordinate system 802 will be described. In more detail, a method ofcalculating the position (x′, y′), width w′, and height h′ of thetrimming frame 807 will be described. Note that for ease of explanation,in this embodiment, a case where the mouse is horizontally moved fromthe left to the right, that is, moved in the forward direction of thex-axis will be described. However, even if the mouse is moved in areverse direction, a top-to-bottom direction, or an inclined direction,the calculation is possible with the same method.x′=x0−x1y′=yw′=wh′=h

As described above, while it is instructed to move an image throughdragging, image data is displayed based on a calculated image movementamount without being changed in image size. When the image movingthrough dragging is completed and a dropping operation is performed, theimage data is displayed based on a calculated magnification ratio aswell as image movement amount.

According to this embodiment, when an arbitrary part of an image isdesignated with a mouse, a pen, or the like and is grasped and draggedwhile displaying only a print area in a trimming frame, the image ismoved without being changed in image size during continuation of thedragging and is magnified as necessary when a dropping operation isperformed at a preferred position. As a result, it becomes possible torealize an easy-to-understand operation where an image is first movedand then is magnified.

Each of the embodiments described above may be realized throughexecution of a program by a computer. Also, a means for supplying theprogram to the computer, such as a computer-readable recording mediumlike a CD-R on which the program has been recorded or a transmissionmedium like the Internet for transmitting the program, is applicable asa modification of the present invention. Further, a program product,such as a computer-readable recording medium on which the program hasbeen recorded, is applicable as another modification of the presentinvention. The program, recording medium, transmission medium, andprogram product described above are contained in the scope of thepresent invention. As the recording medium, it is possible to use aflexible disk, a hard disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, aCD-ROM, a magnetic tape, a non-volatile memory card, or a ROM, forinstance.

It should be noted here that each embodiment described above is merely aconcrete example, in which the present invention is carried out, andtherefore it should not be construed that the technical scope of thepresent invention is limited by these embodiments. That is, it ispossible to carry out the present invention in various other formswithout departing from the technical idea or major features of thepresent invention.

As described above, when it is instructed to move an arbitrary point ofan image in an image display area, the image is moved to a designatedposition and is also magnified as necessary. For instance, when it isintended to bring a human object photographed in a center area of animage near to a right-hand end, it is possible to obtain an image havingpreferable composition by performing desired movement and magnificationthrough a single human object moving operation. Also, while it isinstructed to move the human object, image data is successivelydisplayed based on a calculated image movement amount and/ormagnification ratio, so that it becomes possible for a user to performtrimming while grasping post-editing composition.

Fourth Embodiment

Next, a fourth embodiment of the present invention whose arrangement isthe same as FIG. 1 will be described. FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing aprocess performed in this embodiment to display a grid on an image thatis a target of trimming. In step S1901, it is judged whether or nottrimming is started. If a result of this judgment is affirmative, atrimming mode is set, so that the process proceeds to step S1902. On theother hand, if the judgment result is negative, the process returns tostep S1901. In step S1902, a grid 1005 (see FIG. 15B) indicating asuited position of a main object in an image is displayed on the screen.This grid 1005 is displayed on the image that is the trimming target,and is a mark suggesting a suited framing (composition) with regard tothe position of the main object in the image.

Following this, the process proceeds to step S1903 in which it is judgedwhether or not the trimming is completed. If a result of this judgmentis affirmative, the process proceeds to step S1904 in which the grid1005 is hidden; if not, the process returns to step S1903.

How a user interface changes will be described by following theflowchart shown in FIG. 14 with reference to FIGS. 15A and 15B. FIG. 15Ashows a screen displayed immediately before printing is executed, with apre-trimming image 1001 being displayed thereon. Here, when a trimmingbutton 1002 is pushed, a trimming window shown in FIG. 15B is opened inwhich an image 1003 is displayed. In this example, the pushing of thetrimming button 1002 corresponds to the affirmative result “YES” of thetrimming start judgment in step S1901. In the trimming window shown inFIG. 15B, a trimming frame 1004 is displayed, and when one of the fourcorners or four sides of the trimming frame 1004 is dragged with themouse, the size and/or position of the trimming frame 1004 are/ischanged. Reference numeral 1005 denotes a grid that is displayed in thetrimming frame 1004 in order to indicate a suited position of the mainobject. When the trimming is completed, the user pushes an OK button1007. This pushing of the OK button 1007 corresponds to step S1903. Bychanging the size and/or position of the trimming frame 1004, the sizeand/or position of the image in the trimming frame 1004 that is thetarget of the trimming are changed.

In this embodiment, the trimming is performed using the window shown inFIG. 15B dedicated to the trimming, so that there arises no problem evenif the grid 1005 is displayed in this window at all times. The grid 1005is changed along with changing of the position and/or size of thetrimming frame 1004, although a relative position in the trimming frame1004 is not changed. Also, a button for selectingdisplaying/non-displaying of the grid may be provided in the windowshown in FIG. 15B and switching between displaying and non-displaying ofthe grid may be performed in accordance with the on/off of this button.

After the trimming, the user pushes a print button 1006 shown in FIG.15A to thereby instruct to print the image in the trimming frame 1004.The image data, whose printing has been instructed, is outputted to theprinter 109 (see FIG. 1), which then prints the image data.

It is preferable that the grid 1005 described above is a grid in whichthe image within the trimming frame 1004 is divided under a “goldensection” rule. It is generally said that if a main object is positionedat any one of the intersections of this grid 1005, a suited compositionis obtained. This golden section will be described below. A “goldenratio” based on the golden section means a “harmonic and beautifulratio” considered by ancient people.

A division method, with which a condition of “AB:BP=BP:AP” is satisfiedas shown in FIG. 11A, is called the golden section and a rectangle wherethe radio of a long side to a short side is “AB:BP=BP:AP (1:0.618)” iswell known for instance. Generally, it is also said that a shape havingthis ratio gives the most comfortable feeling to humans.

Next, how the golden ratio is obtained with precision will be describedwith reference to FIG. 11B. First, there will be considered a “rectanglewhere when a square is clipped from the rectangle, a remaining rectanglebecomes similar to the original rectangle”. That is, the followingequation is satisfied.1:(x+1)=x:1Therefore, the following equation is satisfied.X ² +x−1=0When this equation is solved, the side EC becomes as follows.EC=X={(√{square root over (5)})−1}/2=0.618Also, the side AD becomes as follows.

$\begin{matrix}{{AD} = {{x + 1} = {\left\lbrack {\left\{ {\left( \sqrt{5} \right) - 1} \right\}/2} \right\rbrack + 1}}} \\{= {{\left\{ {\left( \sqrt{5} \right) + 1} \right\}/2} = 1.618}}\end{matrix}$In this case, “x” and “(x+1)” are in a mutually reciprocal relation andare both called the golden ratio.

When the composition of a photograph is determined, it is possible touse this golden ratio. In FIG. 11C, a straight line is drawn betweeninterior-division points of the vertical sides at the golden ratio(0.618:1), another straight line is drawn between interior-divisionpoints of the horizontal sides at the golden ratio (0.618:1), and anintersection between these lines is set as a golden section point 301.When vertically and horizontally symmetrical points are considered, fourgolden section points are obtained in total.

Meanwhile, in the photograph world, although not so strict as the goldensection described above, a division rule for obtaining an image felt byhumans as beautiful is called the golden section. Golden section points(grid points) are obtained with a three-division method shown in FIG.16A or a diagonal method shown in FIG. 16B, and are used as a guide forcreating preferable composition.

FIG. 16A shows a grid based on the three-division method with which eachof the vertical sides and the horizontal sides of a rectangle is dividedequally into three, straight lines are drawn between the divisionpoints, and four intersections thereof are each set as a grid point. Onthe other hand, FIG. 16B shows a grid based on the diagonal method withwhich a diagonal line is drawn in a rectangle, perpendicular lines aredrawn from two remaining vertexes of the rectangle to the diagonal line,and intersections between the diagonal line and the perpendicular linesare each set as a grid point. Also, as a modification of the grid shownin FIG. 16B, four grid points may be provided by drawing two diagonallines in a rectangle and drawing perpendicular lines to each diagonalline from remaining vertexes not existing on each diagonal line.Further, in the case of the P (panorama) type of an APS (Advanced PhotoSystem) camera, there may be used a method with which a rectangle ishorizontally divided equally into four or five. If a rectangle isvertically divided into three and is horizontally divided into four asshown in FIG. 16C, six grid points are obtained. As described above, thegrid points indicate suited positions of a main object with reference tothe aspect ratio of an image, and each grid point exists at a screendivision ratio called the golden ratio.

FIG. 17A shows an example in which trimming is performed using the gridshown in FIG. 16A, while FIG. 17B shows an example in which trimming isperformed using the grid shown in FIG. 16B. It is possible for a user tocreate an image having appropriate composition by positioning a humanobject that is the main object at any one of the grid points throughtrimming. Note that only the grid points may be displayed or other marksmay be displayed which suggest appropriate positions of the main objectin the image.

According to this embodiment, appropriate positions of a main object areindicated by a grid or the like on a screen on which trimming isperformed. As a result, it becomes possible even for an inexperienceduser to obtain an image having appropriate composition.

Fifth Embodiment

Next, a fifth embodiment of the present invention will be described. Inthe fourth embodiment described above, the size and/or position of thetrimming frame 1004 (see FIG. 15B) are/is adjusted. In this fifthembodiment, however, there will be described a case where an image to beobtained finally is displayed and a trimming area is determined bychanging the size and/or position of the displayed image. In this case,the trimming frame and the grid are fixedly displayed.

In this embodiment, a grid is displayed on the image 1001 shown in FIG.15A, an example of which is shown in FIG. 12. In FIG. 12, a grid 1702 isdisplayed on an image 1701. The size and position of this grid 1702 arefixed and the image 1701 is magnified and/or moved so that a main objectis positioned at a grid point. In this manner, trimming is performed andan image having appropriate composition is obtained. Note that thedisplay area frame of the image 1701 and the size and position of thegrid 1702 are fixed.

During a trimming operation in this case, an original image in apredetermined display area is magnified and moved to thereby display adesired part of the original image in the display area in a desired sizeand print it.

An image editing method for performing magnification and/or movement ofan image through a single operation will be described below. When it isintended to move a given part of an original image that is not yettrimmed, it is necessary to perform a magnification process in order toprevent a situation where a margin is generated. The following is adescription of a technique of specifying an image clipping area byobtaining a magnification ratio required to move a selected part. Bycombining this method with the grid displaying described above, itbecomes possible to easily arrange a main object at the most suitedposition in a photograph.

In this embodiment, two coordinate systems are used which are thedisplay memory coordinate system for displaying an image on the display106 and the image coordinate system for expressing a position on imagedata. With those coordinate systems, an area that should be clipped fromthe image data after the mouse 108 is moved, a magnification ratio atthe time of writing for displaying on the display 106 are determined,and writing into a display memory area is finally performed.

The display memory coordinate system, the image coordinate system, themovement of the trimming frame, and the frame magnification/reductionprocess at the time of movement of the trimming frame are the same asthose described in the first embodiment with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5,and therefore the description thereof is omitted in this embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart of a process performed with an image editing(trimming) method according to the fifth embodiment of the presentinvention. Hereinafter, the fifth embodiment of the present inventionwill be described by following the flowchart. When a dragging operationwith the mouse is performed, the following process is started.

In step S1200, the grid 1702 (see FIG. 12) is displayed.

In step S1201, the position (Ix, Iy), width Iw, and height Ih of theclipping frame (trimming frame) on the image coordinate system at thatpoint in time are obtained. That is, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, theposition of an upper left-hand point of the image outer edge 404/504 isset as (0, 0), the position of an upper left-hand point of the clippingframe 405/505 on the image coordinate system is substituted into (Ix,Iy), and the width and height of the clipping frame 405/505 aresubstituted into (Iw, Ih).

In step S1202, the position coordinate of the mouse before movement onthe display memory coordinate system is started is fetched and issubstituted into (x0, y0).

In step S1203, a waiting operation is performed for a given length oftime preset in order to grasp the movement of the mouse.

In step S1204, the position coordinate of the mouse after the movementon the display memory coordinate system is fetched and issubstituted-into (x1, y1).

In step S1205, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the position (x′, y′), widthw′, and height h′ of the new clipping frame 407/507 are operated and amagnification ratio is also operated. A method of calculating x′, y′,w′, and h′ will be described later.

In step S1206, an image within the new clipping frame 407/507 designatedby x′, y′, w′, and h′ obtained in step S1205 is read out and is writtenonto the display memory coordinate system at the obtained magnificationratio. As a result, an image is displayed on the display.

In step S1207, it is judged whether or not the mouse dragging iscompleted. If the mouse dragging is completed, the process is ended; ifnot, the process returns to step S1201 and the same operations arerepeated.

In step S1208, the grid 1702 (see FIG. 12) is hidden.

When the process is ended, a post-trimming image is printed or saved.The clipping frame is an image print area indicating an image area to beprinted. When a user instructs to print the image displayed in theclipping frame, the image inside the clipping frame is printed.

By performing the image editing process described above, the main objectis moved and/or magnified so as to follow the mouse pointer and issuccessively displayed during a dragging operation, so that it becomespossible to perform trimming while grasping composition at the time ofprinting.

Next, a method used in step S1205 to calculate the position (x′, y′),width w′, and height h′ of the new clipping frame will be described.Note that for ease of explanation, in the following description, a casewhere the mouse is horizontally moved from the left to the right, thatis, moved in the forward direction of the x-axis will be described.However, even if the mouse is moved in a reverse direction, atop-to-bottom direction, or an inclined direction, the calculation ispossible with the same method.

The method of obtaining the position, width, and height of the newclipping frame will be considered based on two cases of an initialstate, one of which is a case of x=0 where a clipping frame 405 contactsan image outer edge 404 as indicated by 401 in FIG. 4 and the other ofwhich is a case of x≠0 where a clipping frame 505 does not contact animage outer edge 504 as indicated by 501 in FIG. 5.

In the case of x=0 shown in FIG. 4, the position, width, and height ofthe new clipping frame are operated from the following equations.x′=0 (because the clipping frame contacts a left-end side of theimage)  (1)w′=w×x0/x1  (2)h′=h×w′/w  (3)y′=y+h×y0/cHeight−h′×y1/cHeight  (4)

On the other hand, in the case of x≠0 shown in FIG. 5, the position,width, and height of the new clipping frame are operated from thefollowing equations.w′=w  (5)x′=x−(x1−x0)×w/cWidth  (6)y′=yh′=h

A process for magnifying/reducing the image 1701 in FIG. 12 is performedthrough a combination of a CTRL key of the keyword and the rotation of awheel of the mouse, and the movement and/or magnification processdescribed above is performed through a combination of pressing the CTRLkey of the keyboard 108 and dragging by using the mouse 108. That is, byperforming the mouse dragging while keeping the CTRL key pressed down,the movement and/or magnification process described above is performed.Also, it is assumed that the CTRL key is not used at the time of otheroperations.

If a process in this embodiment is described using the flowchart shownin FIG. 14 related to the fourth embodiment, it is judged in steps S1901and S1903 whether or not trimming is started or completed with referenceto whether the CTRL key is pressed down. That is, while it is detectedthat the CTRL key is pressed down, it is judged that a trimmingoperation is performed (trimming mode is set) and therefore the grid isdisplayed.

Also, at the time of trimming, magnification and movement of an imagemay be concurrently performed in the manner described above.Alternatively, the movement and the magnification may be separatelyperformed. It is preferable that the grid is displayed when the positionor size of an image is changed through trimming.

According to this embodiment, when an arbitrary part of an image isdesignated with a mouse, a pen, or the like and is grasped and draggedwhile displaying only a print area in a trimming frame, the image ismoved to a preferred position and is also magnified as necessary. Forinstance, when a human object is photographed in a center area of animage and it is intended to bring the human object near to a left-handend through trimming, merely by dragging a part of the human object to aposition at which it is desired to be arranged, the human object ismoved and is also magnified as necessary. As a result, it becomespossible to obtain an image having preferable composition through asingle operation. Also, it is possible to move the main object to apreferable position while viewing an image to be finally printed, sothat an easy-to-perform operation is realized which can be done byintuition. Further, appropriate positions of the main object aredisplayed using the grid as a guide, so that it becomes possible evenfor a beginner to obtain a photograph having favorable composition withease.

Sixth Embodiment

In a sixth embodiment of the present invention, the grid display methodof the fifth embodiment used in step S1902 in FIG. 14 is improved. Inthe fifth embodiment, one of the grids shown in FIGS. 16A to 16C isdisplayed in step S1902. In this sixth embodiment, however, the grid tobe displayed is changed in accordance with the position at which themouse pointer currently exits. In this embodiment, the display screen,in which the mouse pointer is capable of moving, is vertically andhorizontally divided equally into two, with each part being referred toas an “upper left-hand area”, an “upper right-hand area”, a “lowerleft-hand area”, and a “lower right-hand area”. The mouse pointerindicates the position of the mouse and moves along with the movement ofthe mouse.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart showing a grid display process according to thesixth embodiment. In step S1301, it is judged whether or not the mousepointer is positioned in the upper left-hand area, and if a result ofthis judgment is affirmative, the process proceeds to step S1305. Instep S1305, as shown in FIG. 19A, only a grid intersecting in the upperleft-hand area is displayed. If it is judged in step S1301 that themouse pointer does not exist in the upper left-hand area, the processproceeds to step S1302.

In step S1302, it is judged whether or not the mouse pointer ispositioned in the upper right-hand area, and if a result of thisjudgment is affirmative, the process proceeds to step S1306. In stepS1306, as shown in FIG. 19B, only a grid intersecting in the upperright-hand area is displayed. If it is judged in step S1302 that themouse pointer does not exist in the upper right-hand area, the processproceeds to step S1303.

In step S1303, it is judged whether or not the mouse pointer ispositioned in the lower left-hand area, and if a result of this judgmentis affirmative, the process proceeds to step S1307. In step S1307, asshown in FIG. 19C, only a grid intersecting in the lower left-hand areais displayed. If it is judged in step S1303 that the mouse pointer doesnot exist in the lower left-hand area, the process proceeds to stepS1304.

In step S1304, as shown in FIG. 19D, only a grid intersecting in thelower right-hand area is displayed.

When the four grids shown in FIGS. 19A to 19D are combined with eachother, the grid shown in FIG. 16A is obtained. When the main object isgrasped and moved along with the mouse pointer, only one grid point, outof four grid candidate points, that is closest to the mouse pointer isdisplayed. As described in the second embodiment, the main object ismoved so as to follow the mouse pointer. In this embodiment, only thegrid point closest to the mouse pointer is displayed, so that it ispossible for a user to grasp one optimum grid point, among the multiplegrid candidate points, that is close to the current position of the mainobject. Also, there is a possibility that the user may be disturbed by asituation where many grid points are simultaneously displayed. In viewof this problem, only one grid point is displayed at a time, therebyrealizing a simple display screen.

It should be noted here that the color and size of the closest grid maybe changed from those of other grids, for instance. In this case, aneffect is provided in that easy-to-view and convenient displaying isperformed.

According to this embodiment, when a user drags a main object with amouse while keeping the CTRL key pressed down, only a nearby main objectpoint (grid point) that can give appropriate composition is displayed ona screen in accordance with an operation for moving the main object. Asa result, it becomes possible even for an inexperienced user to performa trimming process with ease.

Each of the embodiments described above may be realized throughexecution by a computer (or the CPU 101 in the computer) of a programstored in a storage medium such as the ROM 102, the RAM 103, or the HDD104. Also, a means for supplying the program to the computer, such as acomputer-readable recording medium like a CD-ROM recording this programor a transmission medium such as the Internet for transmitting theprogram, is applicable as a modification of the present invention.Further, a program product, such as a computer-readable recording mediumon which the program has been recorded, is applicable as anothermodification of the present invention. The program, recording medium,transmission medium, and program product described above are containedin the scope of the present invention. As the recording medium, it ispossible to use a flexible disk, a hard disk, an optical disk, amagneto-optical disk, a CD-ROM, a magnetic tape, a non-volatile memorycard, or a ROM, for instance.

It should be noted here that each of the embodiments described above ismerely a concrete example, in which the present invention is carriedout, and therefore it should not be construed that the technical scopeof the present invention is limited by those embodiments. That is, it ispossible to carry out the present invention in various other formswithout departing from the technical idea or major features of thepresent invention.

As described above, according to the present invention, at the time oftrimming an image, an appropriate position of a main object in an imageis indicated by a grid or the like. As a result, it becomes possibleeven for an inexperienced user to obtain an image having suitedcomposition through trimming.

The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described aboveand it is possible to make various modifications and changes withoutdeparting from the scope defined in the appended claims.

1. An image editing method comprising the steps of: performing atrimming process on image data in a trimming mode; and displaying a gridon an image to be subjected to the trimming process, in response to theimage being dragged by a pointing device which is arranged to encirclean arbitrary point of the image and move the encircled arbitrary pointof the image, to perform the trimming process, wherein the griddisplaying step displays the grid which divides the image based on agolden section.
 2. An image editing method comprising the steps of:displaying a grid on an image to be subjected to the trimming process,in response to the image being dragged by a pointing device which isarranged to encircle an arbitrary point of the image and move theencircled arbitrary point of the image, to perform the trimming process,wherein the grid displaying step displays the grid which vertically andhorizontally divides the image into equal parts.
 3. An image editingmethod according to claim 2, wherein the grid displaying step displaysthe grid which vertically and horizontally divides the image into atleast one of three, four, and five equal parts.
 4. An image editingmethod according to claim 2, wherein the grid displaying step isarranged to switch between displaying and non-displaying of the grid. 5.An image editing method according to claim 2, wherein the trimming stepperforms the trimming process by changing at least one of a size and aposition of the image.
 6. An image editing method according to claim 2,wherein the trimming step is arranged to change at least one of a sizeand a position of a trimming frame which is displayed on the image toindicate a trimming image area in accordance with a trimminginstruction, and display the trimming frame changed in at least one ofthe size and the position, and the grid displaying step displays thegrid in the trimming frame changed in at least one of the size and theposition.
 7. An image editing method according to claim 2, wherein thegrid displaying step displays fixedly a trimming image area and the gridin the trimming image area, and the trimming step is arranged to changean image in the trimming image area in at least one of a size and aposition in accordance with a trimming instruction and display the imagechanged in at least one of the size and the position.
 8. An imageediting method according to claim 2, wherein the trimming process to beperformed with the dragging of the image by the pointing deviceincludes: a step of instructing movement of an arbitrary point of animage displayed in an image display area, in accordance with thearbitrary point of the image being dragged with the pointing device; astep of calculating an image movement amount of the arbitrary point ofthe image and a magnification ratio of the image in response to theinstruction of the movement of the arbitrary point; and a step ofdisplaying a predetermined area of the image data in a trimming imagedisplay area on the basis of the image movement amount and themagnification ratio, which are calculated in the calculating step.
 9. Animage editing method according to claim 2, further comprising: a step ofinstructing to print the image on which the trimming process isperformed.
 10. An image editing method comprising the steps of:performing a trimming process on image data in a trimming mode; anddisplaying a grid on an image to be subjected to the trimming process,in response to the image being dragged by a pointing device which isarranged to encircle an arbitrary point of the image and move theencircled arbitrary point of the image, to perform the trimming process,wherein the grid displaying step displays the grid which is obtained bydrawing a diagonal line in a rectangular image and drawing perpendicularlines from remaining vertexes of the image to the diagonal line.
 11. Animage editing method comprising the steps of: performing a trimmingprocess on image data in a trimming mode; and displaying a grid on animage to be subjected to the trimming process, in response to the imagebeing dragged by a pointing device which is arranged to encircle anarbitrary point of the image and move the encircled arbitrary point ofthe image, to perform the trimming process, wherein the grid displayingstep displays a grid that is closest to a point of an image dragged withthe pointing device, out of a plurality of grid candidates, in a formthat is different from that of other grids.
 12. An image editingapparatus comprising: a trimming process unit which performs a trimmingprocess on image data in a trimming mode; and a grid displaying unitwhich displays a grid on an image to be subjected to the trimmingprocess, in response to the image being dragged by a pointing devicewhich is arranged to encircle an arbitrary point of the image and movethe encircled arbitrary point of the image, to perform the trimmingprocess, wherein said grid displaying unit displays the grid whichdivides the image based on a golden section.
 13. An image editingapparatus comprising: a trimming process unit which performs a trimmingprocess on image data in a trimming mode; and a grid displaying unitwhich displays a grid on an image to be subjected to the trimmingprocess, in response to the image being dragged by a pointing devicewhich is arranged to encircle an arbitrary point of the image and movethe encircled arbitrary point of the image, to perform the trimmingprocess, wherein said grid displaying unit displays the grid whichvertically and horizontally divides the image into equal parts.
 14. Acomputer-readable recording medium storing a program comprising a codefor causing a computer to execute an image editing method, said imageediting method comprising the steps of: performing a trimming process onimage data in a trimming mode; and displaying a grid on an image to besubjected to the trimming process, in response to the image beingdragged by a pointing device which is arranged to encircle an arbitrarypoint of the image and move the encircled arbitrary point of the image,to perform the trimming process, wherein the grid displaying stepdisplays the grid which divides the image based on a golden section. 15.A computer-readable recording medium storing a program comprising a codefor causing a computer to execute an image editing method, said imageediting method comprising the steps of: performing a trimming process onimage data in a trimming mode; and displaying a grid on an image to besubjected to the trimming process, in response to the image beingdragged by a pointing device which is arranged to encircle an arbitrarypoint of the image and move the encircled arbitrary point of the image,to perform the trimming process, wherein the grid displaying stepdisplays the grid which vertically and horizontally divides the imageinto equal parts.